Ethereum creator seemingly donated $517k to mobile project ethOS

It is estimated that Vitalik Buterin provided financial support to the ethOS project, which was introduced as the world’s first Ethereum mobile operating system.

Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin sent 199.9 ETH worth over $517,000 to a Gnosis Safe multi-signature contract, according to Arkham data. The leading speculation is that Buterin’s transfer was a donation to an Ethereum phone project called ethOS.

Developed by pseudonymous developers at Freedom Factory, this open-source initiative first became available on select Android devices in late 2022 and was redistributed the following year.

ethOS is an Ethereum-based mobile operating system that allows users to write blockchain code and deploy ETH-based decentralized applications. Founded in 2021, the team plans to release additional hardware offerings this year or next, according to the official ethOS website.

Is ethOS Ethereum’s answer to the Solana Saga?

15 years after the launch of Bitcoin (BTC), the blockchain industry is focused on mass adoption by providing easy access to Web3 and its real-world benefits.

Integrating blockchain standards with mobile devices such as smartphones has often been a challenging process, but developments in recent years show that progress is being made.

In June 2022, Solana Labs, the organization behind Solana (SOL), introduced the Saga mobile device. The hardware is built on the Android operating system and comes preloaded with Solana dapps like Phantom Wallet.

Slow sales initially cast doubt on the Saga’s success, and it took almost a year for the Solana to sell 20,000 units. However, Saga 2.0 improved this record, selling 100,000 units in pre-orders within a month.

At press time, Saga appeared to be ahead of ethOS, but both projects have taken different approaches to combining blockchain and mobile technology. The Ethereum and Solana blockchains have seen significant growth in the past year. If both ethOS and Saga continue to improve, they could eventually become full-fledged competitors in the blockchain mobile market.